The mouse, the tiger and the Palaquin Captain
by Nezumi-chu
Summary: Sequel to 'The mouse, the tiger and the youkai jesus'. Murasa doesn't seem to be happy with Shou and Nazrin not being as close as they could be. What might be her problem about that? Rated T in case of small stuff.
1. Chapter 1: A relationship not yet grown

**The mouse, the tiger and the Palaquin Captain**

Having read "The mouse, the tiger

and the youkai jesus" might be

very useful!

_Chapter 1: A relationship not yet grown_

Neither Shou nor me had ever tried anything... well... you know... . I didn't know about Shou, but I never thought about it until...

All members of the Myouren temple were sitting together, drinking tea. It had gotten kind of a habit ever since we all got along better, so since Shou and I first kissed... aaah... her lips... those sweet lips... where was I? Oh, right. It had become a habit so we did it that day too. I was sitting next to mast- Shou, resting my head on her shoulder while she rested her head on my mine. We usually didn't kiss or anything in front of others, especially not in public. It wasn't like everyone wouldn't know. They had watched us confess to each other, after all. But both of us felt uncomfortable doing all that love stuff in front of others, except our friends. So when we were outside we were still master and underling.

Anyway, I'm digressing. So that day we were sitting there as usual. Nothing special happened, just the usual chatting. Well, unless it's unusual to find an octopus-like creature in your tea. Nue was enjoying herself way too much lately. Hijiri had screamed after finding that animal. When we were all sitting there, Shou finished her tea and stood up, letting me fall to the side, because I couldn't lean onto anything anymore. "umpf!" "Ah, sorry Nazu-chan!" She knelt next to me. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" I looked at her chuckling. "Calm down, master, I'm alright." I smiled at her. "Just try to do it differently next time, please." "And you try calling me by my name next time, please." She pouted a little, but it looked like she was faking it. "Yeah... about that..." I scratched the back of my head. "Otherwise you will get no more kisses." She decided. Even though I knew she could never go through with that I had to beg now so she wouldn't be mad or sad. "No! Please reconsider and I'll call you whatever you like!" "Shou-chan." I nearly fainted.

She then giggled and kissed my forehead before standing up. "I've got to go now. I still gotta buy something." "Oh, should I come with you?" I suggested. "No! I mean... no, thank you. It's kind of... no." she smiled nervously and stepped out of the room backwards. I sat up straight again. Looked like another try to surprise me. While I drank my tea I ignored the others staring at me. I thought they'd be used to this by now. Hijiri was the only one who seemed okay with it, she was smiling happily while enjoying her tea. It was almost freaky how happy she was. Then the silence was broken. "What the hell was that?" Murasa suddenly asked. I looked at her. "You call it a tiger youkai. Maybe you haven't seen someone like that before but-" "You know what I meant." I smiled a little bit. "What do you want me to say? You saw what happened, I don't know more than you do." Murasa didn't seem satisfied, not at all. Ichirin raised her voice. "Murasa, just let them be, are you aggressive today or something?" She asked calmly. The captain sighed. "No. But... there's stuff you DO know that I don't know." she turned her gaze back to me, locking her eyes on mine, I'm sure this is how she used to target the ships she was going to sink.

"And what would that be?" "How far have Shou and you gone?" She blurted out. I tried to stay calm at that question, but I couldn't and so I spat out my tea into Kogasa's face. "blurg!" she said. "What's with that kind of question?" I asked loudly. "I just wanna know!" Hijiri interrupted. "Please, both of you calm down, no one here wants to be deaf." We calmed down. "Both of you disappear into her or your room and no one knows what you're doing, so spill it!" She ordered. "That's seriously none of your business." I said calmly. "Oh, so you two have already-" "I never said that!" I interrupted her. Murasa chuckled. "I never knew you would do that kind of stuff so quickly." I blushed very hard. "I didn't say we did!" "A-ha! You're blushing! Memories coming to your mind?" she asked jokingly, but for me it wasn't funny at all. "No! Because there aren't any like that! You pervert captain!"

"Should I try bero bero ba now, Nue-senpai?" - "No. Not now. Not ever." I heard the quiet dialogue next to me. Oh yeah, since Nue is teaching Kogasa how to scare someone my friend's been starting to call her senpai. Ichirin sighed annoyed. "Murasa, just stop it. If you wanna ask her stuff like that do it either quietly or not now." She took a zip from her tea and Murasa got quieter while talking. "Well if you haven't had anything like what you think what I think what you think you did, how far did you go then?" She asked. It wasn't anything of her business. She shouldn't care. But she was way too stubborn to even think of giving up on trying. "Well... we kissed that one time... ." I answered her.

"...That's it? You don't even kiss her regularly? You haven't even made out a little?" She asked. "No..." I said. Why did I have to say that in front of everyone there? "Of course I thought I could try making out a little, but... I can't. I still have troubles calling her by her name, how on earth should it be possible for me to do something like that?" I asked more myself than her. "Well, I guess that makes sense. But we gotta change that!" "What?" I started blankly at her. "But I like it the way it is! Besides, it's none of your business so you shouldn't interfere!" I started to yell. "Don't you think it's boring like that?" "Even if I did, what would you care? Mind your own business and stop bothering me with that!" But she wouldn't quit doing it for some time...

Murasa stopped trying to talk me into doing anything after being calmed down by Ichirin and Hijiri. I didn't know what was wrong with her at that time, sure she was bold sometimes and she often was curious about stuff that was none of her business. But if one told her to stop and was serious about it, especially if that person was her friend or some sort, she'd stop. She didn`t stop that time, though. She continued to brag about it and she seemed to be serious, like possessed or something. They calmed her down and Hijiri told me that Murasa was probably just trying to joke around once again, but I could tell this was different and I could tell Hijiri knew that just as well as I did. I left the others right after that and went to my room. Was it true? Was Shou's and my relationship that boring? What was I thinking? Everything was great the way it was! And no captain, ship ghost or anyone else could convince me to believe something different! I talked with confidence in my mind, even though ... I was worried about what Murasa might do.

I just sat there in my room thinking. Just like I used to do before I confessed to master- I mean Shou. Damn that captain, making me worry like this again. I didn't pay attention to it until that moment, but I could hear the talking of the others, so I perked up my ears and listened. "What were you thinking, overreacting like that? It's none of your business." I could hear Ichirin lecturing Murasa or something like that. "You know that you shouldn't give any of them reason to worry about their relationship. They had a hard time getting together. Please, don't do anything that might lead to trouble." Hijiri's voice was surprisingly harsh. I wondered why she didn't talk like an angel anymore. "... Excuse me." I barely understood that sentence, but I knew it came from Murasa. Then I heard footsteps walking past my door. Just what the hell was wrong with her? I thought about going to talk to her but refused to, I would be bothering her, especially after an incident like our confrontation... if you could call it that. I sat there for a while until I heard the front door open.

I wondered who it might be, but then quickly remembered that master- I mean Shou had left earlier, which was probably what led to the tiny incident. "Hello!" I heard her greeting the others, who, except for Murasa and me, were still sitting there. "Where did Murasa and Nazu-chan go?" she then suddenly asked with sort of a dull voice. It was a weird tone and I didn't even know where it came from or what to call it. Jealousy? Not really. That tone was in her voice whenever she expected to lose me to someone else. Even though I told her about a million times that I would never leave her and that there was no one beside her in my life, no one else could ever steal my heart the way she did. "Oh them?" Hijiri's voice interrupted my train of thought. "They had a little... argument and I think they left to their own rooms." "Is that so?" The weird tone suddenly disappeared like nothing happened, nothing DID happen after all. "Yes, but since I'm not involved I don't want to tell you more about it. You better ask your girlfriend for more information." I blushed hard. That word... girlfriend... it still sent chills down my spine. "That reminds me..." Ichirin raised her voice. "How come you're back already? Didn't you tell us earlier that you want to go buy a surprise for Nazrin?", she asked. "Yes, but... I forgot what I wanted to get her, hehehe..." she added a nervous laughter at the end of her sentence. I made a facepalm and I was sure I wasn't the only one. That was so much like her, Shou, my sweet klutz. "How about making a note next time?" Ichirin suggested in a having-a-facepalm-voice. "Good idea." More nervous laughter. "Well, I think I'll go see what my Nazu-chan is doing." Her... Nazu-chan...? It was correct, alright, but it sounded so... so... I didn't even know how it sounded!

I then heard the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer until I heard a knock on my door. "Nazu-chan? Are you in there? Can I enter?" "Yes, come in." I answered. I was nervous. What if she asked about what happened between Murasa and me? If I told her it would lead to an uncomfortable conversation and even worse it would make Shou believe even more in the chance of me leaving her, since Murasa pictured our relationship as boring and imperfect. I looked at the one who just entered my room. Master- I mean Shou, dammit!... Anyway, she entered closed the door behind her and smiled at me before sitting next to me on my bed, I just stared blankly at her and I had neither a reason nor a clue why exactly I was doing that. "I-Is something wrong, Nazu-chan? Oh, I didn't ask before sitting! I'm sorry!" She was flustered and I saw that I wasn't the only one who looked cute like that. Not that I ever believed I looked cute, it was all master's and Hijiri's idea. I chuckled. "Please calm down, you did nothing wrong, I was just thinking about something, that's all!" I calmed her down and she made a fake pout. "That's mean, worrying me like that." She made a normal face again. "What were you thinking about?" she questioned smiling. "... Actually... I was wondering why I gave you a blank stare." Shou stared at me for a moment and then laughed. I joined her laughter, even though I was kinda embarrassed.

When we were done laughing, my tiger looked at me. "Say, Nazu-chan... Hijiri mentioned you and Murasa having a fight... what was it about?" Damn. She always forgot that stupid pagoda, but she remembered something like that, seriously... this girl... "Oh, nothing too important." I answered. I couldn't stand the burning pain of lying to her. It was even worse now that we were dating. "Oh? Can I still know what it was about, please?" She asked me smiling. I sighed, I guess I had to tell her. "Well... Murasa asked me... how far our relationship went already..." I looked at my feet. "She bothered me about it until I told her... so I told her the truth that we are jut having a normal not that far developed relationship... She started bragging about that being boring and us having to get closer until Hijiri and Ichirin shut her up... pretty stupid, huh?" I looked at her, giving a fake smile, but as I looked into her eyes I could see hurt. "Boring...? Am I... am I too boring for you, Nazu-chan?" Tears formed in her eyes. Damn, Damn, DAMN! I hated that stupid captain! "No, master! I would never see you as boring! You're very sweet and special!" The tears now started to roll down her cheeks. "B-But you're still calling me master... and... and...!" "Listen, Shou, neither you nor me should care about what Murasa said. She has no idea of anything. I never had more fun than when I've been with you and that will continue that way." Shou wiped away her tears and smiled at me. "Nazu-chan!" She pressed her lips on mine, letting me enjoy her sweet taste once again. She was just plain weird, like she was having mood swings, but this weirdness was another one of the parts I loved. She was weird. She wasn't like others. She was special.

As we parted Shou smiled sweetly at me. Even though we shouldn't listen to Murasa the way she yelled at me was still weird. I definitely had to find out the reason of why she was being so serious about that if there was a special reason. I wondered if she'd apologize to me? Meh, probably not. "Nazu-chan, what's wrong? You seem so thoughtful today." "Oh, it's nothing important. Just thinking about unimportant things." I explained. I wondered if my thought about the captain actually was of any importance. But nevermind, I should cross that thought out of my mind, at least for the time with Shou. I didn't really know what to do, so I just pulled her into a hug. I heard her whisper a quiet 'awww' as she hugged me back. We stayed like that for a couple of minutes, just sitting there, hugging, enjoying the time or being together.

Yes, together.

* * *

**Heeere it is! The sequel!**

**It's not completely necessary to have read the first one, but there will be a lot of things referring to it, so I would recommend reading that first. Even though it might have been spoilerd by now...**

**And by the way, I love Murasa, so no Anti-Murasa here, don't worry. It just might seem a little like that ^^; … a little much.**

**Whatever, R&R**

**BTW: Maybe you read the Extra chapter or the original and thought you could skip the beginning, but I think then you might have over read a little bit I changed. It's not that important, just so you know.**


	2. Chapter 2: A little payback

**The mouse, the tiger and the Palaquin Captain**

_Chapter 2: A little payback_

We continued to talk for a little while after hugging, not mentioning anything about Murasa again. Even though she didn't appear in our conversation anymore, I couldn't stop thinking about her weird behavior from before. I was still mad at her for making master having doubt in our relationship again, even though she didn't mean it, her actions were inappropriate. … I said master again, didn't I? After a while there was a knock at my door. "Nazrin? Is Shou with you?" It was Hijiri. "Yes, she is, why?" I wondered, I enjoyed spending time with her, so I didn't want her to leave to do something with Hijiri. "Just asking, because I couldn't find her in her room. Can I come in for a moment?" At that second I wondered if Hijiri thought that Shou and I were doing things no one should see, but I quickly shook my head to get that thought out. "Yes. Sure." The door opened and our friend stepped in a little. "I was just wondering if you'd like to come along to go shopping. There is some stuff we need and I also thought we could all go so especially Kogasa gets a stronger feeling about belonging here. She's still a little shy and I think one or two days like that couldn't hurt." She smiled friendly. That was actually a good idea. Hijiri was right about my friend still being shy. It was unusual for her to have something like a family so she wouldn't do anything in the fear to ruin it. The only time when she wasn't fearing to be herself was when she was alone with me. I noticed her being more talk active at those times. She also kept quiet about cooking when we were together, knowing that the food I made was a complete failure.

"Sure, I'd like to come along, what about you, Shou?" I looked at her smiling. She seemed thoughtful and disappointed for a moment and I wondered why. But then she quickly smiled at me. "Yes, I'll come along as well. I'm sure it'll be great." She looked at Hijiri, who gave us a satisfied nod. "I will go ask Nue and Murasa then." I lost my happiness immediately. "Murasa...?" I asked. Hijiri had been there. She knew that I wouldn't get along with that girl too well. "Nazrin. Even though you two had an argument, you really should try getting along. Both of you are a part of the Myouren temple." I sighed, she left, closing the door. Damn... Murasa was going to come along, I really didn't need or want that. "You called me Shou..." I looked up a little surprised, looking into the eyes of my beloved tiger. "Yes, I did, didn't I?" "Yes, you called me Shou!" She squealed and hugged me out of nowhere. I smiled a little and hugged her back again. "Does it make you _that _happy?" I asked her. "Yes!" She answered quickly. "Of course it makes me happy! I would've been really really sad if you hadn't learned to call me by my name!" "Is that so?" I whispered. "Then we can both be happy, hm?" I smiled. She was so cute. It was true. We could be happy now.

I heard Hijiri walk past my room again. Yes, I could tell it was Hijiri. You could hear most of the things that happened outside of your room in the Myouren temple. And in time I could recognize everyone's footsteps. I had learned them when I was lying thoughtful in my bed sometimes and couldn't sleep. Everyone's step was different. The speed, the loudness and the general sound. Anyway, I heard Hijiri. "Excuse me for a moment." I said and let go off Shou, leaving my room. "Hijiri." she stopped and turned around, looking at me. "What is it, Nazrin? Do you not want to come after all?" "No, I didn't change my mind, of course I want to go. But I just wanted to know if..." I lowered my voice. "Murasa comes along?" Hijiri gave me a nod. "Yes, she said she'd come, especially because there is some ship stuff we need. By the way, she didn't sound so happy, so maybe she feels bad about what she did and wants to apologize." "Really? Well if she wants to she can always do that. I will hear her out." Hijiri nodded. "That's good. Well, get ready, we're going to go now." I went back inside my room, closing the door once again, while hearing how the youkai jesus walked away. "What did you ask her?" Shou looked at me, wondering.

"I just wanted to know if Murasa comes along." I answered and sighed. This would be a long day. "I guess she will... Nazu-chan, don't let her get to you. Isn't that what you also told me? Just ignore her, alright?" She stood up and came closer to me. "You're completely right." I answered. "Speak of the devil..." I heard Murasa's footsteps outside of my room, but they weren't coming towards it. Instead it sounded like she was going outside. "Sounds like Murasa is going outside already, we should get going as well." I suggested, opening the door of my room. She nodded and smiled, but I could see in her eyes that that smile wasn't real. I had to ask her about that later, when I was sure no one else could hear us. "I'll just go lock the door of my room." Shou then said. "Huh? Why would you want to do that? Not that it bothers me or anything..." "I just feel more secure with my room locked... The... the pagoda is inside there, yes! And I just want to make sure it stays there." She seemed nervous and if I didn't know any better I'd say she was lying, but since I trusted her and knew that if she was lying she had a really good reason to do so, I just went with it. "Okay, then. I'm glad you're taking better care of it now." I chuckled warmly and she smiled nervously. She then went to lock her room, obviously unsure about what to do with the key. "Ah... um..." I could tell that she was afraid of losing it if she took it with her, so I took it from her, going into my room and placed it behind a photo of her on a small table. "Just leave it here." I said when I came back, smiling at her. "Alright, thank you." She smiled. Behind her I saw Ichirin with Unzan and Byakuren. "BOO!" "Ah!" Someone slapped her hands on my shoulders from behind and I was a little surprised. I turned around. "Kogasa, don't surprise me like- you surprised me!" I cheered for her. "I did? Yes, I did!" She cheered with me.

"Seems like Nue does help you a lot, after all." I said. "Yes, Nue-senpai is great! She's so awesome in scaring people! I want to become as good as her!" I chuckled. "Good luck with that. I'm sure you can do it if you just practice a lot." She smiled. "Unfortunately she won't come with us, otherwise I could have scared the others outside too!" "She won't come?" I wondered. "Nah, she told me she ain't into this kind of family stuff." Kogasa shrugged. She had become really attached to Nue, but I was still in the position of her best friend. I smiled at that thought. "Murasa, where are you? Are you ready to go?" I heard Hijiri call, looking around for Murasa. "Yes!" A quiet voice from outside yelled. "Everyone ready to go?" Byakuren asked, looking at us, receiving nods from everyone. We went outside, where Murasa was already waiting. Next to her was Nue for some reason. Apparently, because no one else liked Murasa too much at that time, she had just found herself Nue as company. I gave our captain a deep glare, she took it surprisingly well. "You sure you don't want to come along, Nue?" Hijiri asked her. She stayed silent, maybe she was thinking about it again. I glanced at Kogasa, her eyes full of hope that her senpai might come after all. "No, not really. I got…. Stuff to do." "Bye, then, Nue-senpai!" Kogasa waved excitedly. Then we left together. "Where are we actually going first?" I asked, while we were heading for the human village. They knew Byakuren and they knew that neither her nor her friends would ever hurt someone without a reason.

"I haven't decided on that, yet. Does anyone have any ideas? Kogasa?" Kogasa next to me was shocked and nervous. "Fwuahh? Why me?" She asked confused. "I just thought maybe there is some special place or shop you would want to visit." Hijiri smiled sweetly at her. I wasn't sure about it, but I really hoped that this would help Kogasa feel more comfortable when she was around the others, not only me. She thought for a moment. "N-not really..." She then said. "Didn't you say you've never tried real dango, but always wanted to?" I asked. I remembered her telling me that, when she was blabbering about food. "Oh, y-yeah... but where should we get some of those?" She questioned. I shrugged and then noticed that Hijiri was talking to one of the villagers about something, before that person pointed into a direction. Hijiri smiled and came back to us. "There is a store for things like fresh dango just around the corner." She smiled. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ichirin demanded. And so we went to the mentioned shop. It was small and there weren't many customers, but the food looked and smelled great. Hijiri had already went to order a large amount of dango, before we all actually noticed. Ichirin then left to help her. I looked at Shou, she seemed awfully quiet and thoughtful. I was worried, had I done something wrong? I took her hand and held it tightly. She looked at me and quickly smiled. I then glanced at Murasa, who was watching us. Guess she wouldn't mind her own business any time soon. I glared at her and she looked away annoyed.

"So, Kogasa, tell me about your lessons with Nue." She then raised her voice, talking to my friend. Was she trying to make me jealous or something? Anyway, it was not going to work. "My lessons with senpai? Well, they are really great! Sometimes she's a bit mean to me, though..." Kogasa seemed in thought and Murasa seemed quite interested, a little bit too interested. "Really?" "Yes. But I really like her! She can be amazingly scary! And she was the one who suggested the lessons in the first place so... even though she's mean sometimes, I know she doesn't hate me!" Kogasa smiled happily. "I'm sure that's right." Murasa answered. Why was she suddenly that interested in Kogasa? But what if it wasn't about Kogasa... but Nue? Did she actually have interest in Nue? I realize that I thought too much. Hijiri and Ichirin then came back, bringing some dango with them. "Unfortunately they ran out of green tea and had only one cup left, I think Kogasa should have it." She smiled and Kogasa blushed. "Thank you! But if someone else wants it..." "No, no, you've never tried them before, so you should have it." Hijiri said before giving Kogasa the tea and everyone one stick with three dango. "And they were short on these too. Next time we should come here earlier." Ichirin suggested. I took a bite. They tasted good. I wished we would have had some green tea. I looked at Kogasa, who also took a bite. "So, do you like it?" I asked, while Kogasa also drank a little bit of her tea. "Yes, it's great!" She then said and smiled right before eating the second one. I looked at Murasa, who was just eating quietly.

'If I would push Kogasa just a little, she might just accidentally pour the tea all over Murasa...' I thought. 'Sorry, Kogasa, but I have to do this.' I hugged my master, who is Shou, out of the blue, pulling her down a little, as expected I stumbled backwards, right into Kogasa. I could only hear how the tea splashed, but it seemed like a success. "Arg! You did that on purpose, Nazrin!" I heard Murasa yell. I looked at her. Time to use my crappy acting skills. "Did wha- oh! I'm so sorry!" I said with a hint of sarcasm. She glared at me. "Temper, temper." I said. "All I wanted to do is hug my master." I looked at Shou who was hugging me back lovingly. "Murasa... leave Nazrin alone, will you?" She said while her face was pressed against my head. No response. I noticed that Ichirin was holding back a laughter. I remembered Murasa laughing at her before, now the tables had turned. Hijiri pretended not to have seen anything and Kogasa finished her dango, looking at me. Shou was still hugging me and I could hear her making a quiet purring noise, like a cat. She had never done this before, or at least I never noticed it. Apparently it didn't bother her that people were staring at us, because she gave me a kiss shortly afterward. I kissed her back, even though I didn't like doing these kinds of things in front of everyone else. The hugging was just part of a little payback after all.

She then stopped hugging and kissing me and smiled at me. I smiled at her and then looked at the others who quickly pretended not to have seen anything.

The evening was very long, too long for me to remember everything that we did. I just remember that I kept hurting or pouring things over Murasa all evening and that Shou continued to stay silent and didn't let go off my hand all evening long. I also remember that we ended up sitting at that grill of Mystia Lorelei, enjoying some grilled eel. It turned out that Mystia had seen Kogasa wander around lonely before I met her and that she shared some eel with her, thinking Kogasa was hungry. We sat there and talked and ate for quite a while until Hijiri suddenly raised her voice. "Good heavens! It must be really late already! We should go home. I don't think Nue is watching the temple, she said that she had stuff to do after all and we shouldn't leave for that long." "Which is weird..." I heard Kogasa whisper. I looked at her. "Huh? What do you mean?" She looked at me, keeping her voice very quiet. "Nue-senpai told me she just isn't into these kinds of things. She never said she had anything to do... why would she lie to me...?" Kogasa wondered sadly. I wanted to cheer the poor girl up. "Hey, come on, I'm sure she didn't have any stuff to do. She just didn't want Hijiri to feel hurt, that's all. She's probably going to be home when we get to the temple, not knowing what to do. " I smiled and she smiled back, but just a little bit. "Maybe you're right, thank you, Nazrin." She hugged me. I was in a weird situation because Shou still didn't let go off my hand, I felt how her grip tightened with Kogasa's hug. I glanced back and saw how she balled her other hand into a fist, her eyes closed tightly, her teeth gritted. She looked like she had a hard time controlling herself. But why?

I saw how Ichirin and Hijiri stood up, followed by Murasa. Kogasa let go and stood up as well, so did Master and I. We went back to the temple, everyone chatting, except for Shou, who was still in thought and still squeezing my hand and Murasa who just followed silently. "I really wish Nue-senpai would've come along. She really missed something." Kogasa said, apparently not able to wait to see her senpai again. "I think she'll be fine." I told her as we went inside. I noticed that Murasa stayed out for a couple of seconds longer before entering as well. Everyone got rid of their shoes and Kogasa closed her umbrella, which had been with us all the time.

_CRASH!_

The closest window shattered while Nue flew in. The pieces of glass were all over the floor and a cold breeze entered the room. "Nue, what the _hell _are you doing?" Hijiri asked, obviously trying to control her anger. Kogasa next to me seemed to be surprised as well. Of course, how couldn't she be? "I just thought I'd give my student another lesson in surprising by surprising someone myself." She looked at Kogasa, who stared at her, admiring her skills in surprising, even though this didn't seem to be the way Nue would surprise someone. "Awesome..." Kogasa whispered, stunned. "You are really strange today. Just like someone else." Ichirin said, looking at Murasa, who seemed to be ashamed of herself, I wondered why. Ichirin continued "Well, anyway, someone needs to get us a new window, we can't just stay with... well... nothing." "I'll pay it!" Nue said immediately. "That would be best, Nue. Also clean up this mess, please." Hijiri then said. Of course it would be best, it was her fault the window was broken, after all, for someone else to have to pay it wouldn't be right. Everyone except for Nue and Murasa went to the living room. Apparently there _was_ something between them. I went to the kitchen before going to the living room and got a bit of cheese. Shou had let my hand go, by the way. I carried my basket comrade, placed the small one on the table, starting to feed the hungry mouse. Kogasa watched closely. "You wanna try it too?" I asked. "The cheese?" Kogasa wondered. "No, the feeding." I smiled and gave her a piece of cheese. She held it in front of the nose of my comrade, who quickly snatched it away from her.

I yawned while Kogasa fed it. "I think I'm gonna go brush my teeth and then go to bed. I'm exhausted." I told the others, who nodded. They wished me a good night, right before I left to the bathroom to brush my teeth. While doing so, I noticed my comrade hopping onto the edge of the sink, watching me. I ran my finger gently over the small head that was turned into my direction. In that moment I noticed something else, something strange. There were drops of blood on a towel. Murasa's towel. And it looked like it had just gotten there. Why would she bleed? It wasn't enough for a whole nosebleed and it didn't look like anything serious, but I was still confused. I would have to find out more about this later. I then finished brushing my teeth and went into my room, I just let myself drop onto the bed.

_CRASH!_

"AH!" I sat up and looked around. I noticed quickly that the whole bed had collapsed. "What the- huh?" I didn't even know what to say to this. I then saw that the other came quickly to my room, especially Shou looked like she was worried. "What happened? Are you alright?" She asked and then looked at my bed and me in surprise. Everyone was now surprised, even Nue and Murasa. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I was just a little shocked. How does something like this even happen?" I wondered. Shou quickly came and knelt down next to me, wanting to make sure that I was alright. "You sure nothing hurts?" "Yes, please don't worry this much, I'm fine, really." I gave her a reassuring smile and she nodded. I took a closer look at what were the remains of my bed. All of the screws were lying around. "This is strange... looks like someone removed all of the screws!" I said. "But we were all out with you and when we left the bed was still fine..." Hijiri wondered. "Well, except for Nue..." Everyone looked at her. Nue started to defend herself. "Speaking for my own defense, I came home just after you did, you noticed that, didn't you? Also, I've been actually following you around all the time." She said. "What? Why would you have done that?" I asked her confused. "To take more notes about Kogasa so I could know better in which ways to teach her how to be scary. And as I thought my..." She cleaned her throat. "_dynamic entrance_ was a full success." She explained. "And why should we believe that? Do you have any proof?" Ichirin asked. "I know every place you've been and how long you've been there." She claimed. "To keep it short you started with eating dango and ended with eating eel at Lorelei's grill." That was correct and she actually didn't have any reason to sabotage my bed. "Well... maybe it was just misfortune and those screws just fell out one by another until today the last one necessary to let this bed stand fell out. It _is _kind of old." Nue nodded.

"Misfortune or not, you can't sleep like this." Shou told me. "Huh? What do you mean? The mattress is still intact." "Yeah but... if you sleep just on a mattress your back might hurt a lot tomorrow..." She said. "I've slept on futons before and my back was just fine..." I said. I really had no idea why master wouldn't want me to sleep on the mattress. "Yes, but... your back is not used to it... you could... sleep in my bed..." She blushed really hard and so did I. An 'ooooooooh' came from the others like they were the audience in one of those outside-world-sitcoms. I ignored them and focused on Shou's words. "Do you... want me to...?" I asked her.

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**So this is Chapter two! **

**Yes, it took long, because school started again for me and because I will be writing two exams and I'll be having an English contest this week I had to study, study, study. I wrote Chapter 3 already (before this one) and I will post it tomorrow or maybe still later if I feel like it.**

**Do you actually feel like this deserves the genre humor? I suck at cracking jokes so I should change it, shouldn't I?**

**Because I can't actually write you back, I'll answer you here to your review, Anonymous Pyramid Head: Yes, yes it continues :) Really? Well I did try to do it a little differently and just hoped it would be good^^ But that she was pessimistic in the last one had a good reason, didn't it? ^^; Thank you, I'm glad she's not too OOC in your opinion^^ Jealousy? Maybe, maybe ;p**

**R&R or your bed will crash tonight ;p**


	3. Chapter 3: Mischievous planning

**The mouse, the tiger and the Palaquin Captain**

_Chapter 3: Mischievous planning_

I looked out of the window, glaring into nowhere as my thoughts ran wild. What had gotten into me? I yelled at Nazrin and talked to her about something that I usually shouldn't talk about. She was right that it wasn't any of my business, but did she know what might happen? Nevermind. I told myself to forget about it and mind my own business, like she told me to, but I couldn't. Honestly, I didn't even have any own business. Bragging about something and annoying the others has always seemed to be the content of my life... or not life. I have died already, after all. I didn't like remembering it, though. Why was I like that now? I was usually less serious about things, except they were of great importance for the entire Myouren temple or me. Damn Nazrin and Shou. It wasn't supposed to matter to me how far they got in anything. And then it hit my mind. The reason of my unusual behavior. Crap. It was still haunting me, that one particular thing and now it caused me to yell at one of my allies, even though she didn't do anything wrong. But maybe this might just be the chance to defeat it. If I could get my two allies to become a lot closer, maybe I could finally be stronger than the thing that haunted me. It was only an idea, but I had to do it, to try it. Everyone would be happier afterward for sure.

But how on earth would I be able to do _that_? I didn't have any power that could help me and I've always thought that I lack a sense of romance. Neither Shou nor Nazrin were very close to me so I'd know enough stuff about them to use it. Seemed like I had to use my imagination for this and improvise and with a little luck it might even be possible. I should start planning right away. I was disliked by most of the others right now, anyway, so leaving my room was out of question. So instead of just sitting there sulking or something, I would use my time to think. Some people told me that I should do that more often, by the way. Let's see... Nazrin and Shou are already dating and kissing a few times, making them a couple hadn't been that hard for Hijiri, since she knew that both of them had the same feelings, my plan on the other hand... was much more trouble, not only did I not know about what Shou thought, but also did I know that Nazrin didn't like the idea of getting closer, which would make things really hard. Also, I had to make sure not to get discovered while trying anything. It might have consequences I can't even imagine. Nue wouldn't probably give a damn about it and would keep quiet and I could convince Kogasa to do the same, since she was new and didn't want to ruin her chances of friendship.

But if Ichirin or Byakuren or even worse Shou and Nazrin found me, I was screwed. Until now I didn't even know what I should do that they could catch me doing. Just making them kiss wouldn't be enough, they've done that a lot already, after all. I then noticed that they actually had no time to be alone and do more than that. They spent their free time at the Myouren temple, of course, but here they rarely were alone. There was always someone else around, keeping them from doing whatever. Even in one's own room the level of privacy was really small. You could hear the others outside of the room talking. Sure they could go out to some place together, but since they are trying their best to not act like a couple outside of their home that also wasn't an option. The only time it was quiet at the temple was at night, but I knew that especially Nazrin would never dare to spend a night with her lover. Shou was a little more open-minded, so she probably wouldn't mind. The perfect idea! I somehow had to make Nazrin spend a night in Shou's room or even better: her bed.

It seemed impossible, but there had to be a way, a tiny tiny chance to make this work. First of all, I had to unable the tiny, tiny commander from sleeping in her own bed. But how? I could break the bed, but they'd know who it was at instant and I didn't want to risk that. Using a saw to cut it and put it damaged back together so that if Nazrin lies down, it'll crash, was an idea. But she would probably see that the bed was neatly cut and I would be busted that way too. Damn... I knew better than anyone else how to make a ship sink, but a bed...? That was seriously not my specialty. It were times like these that I wished I had a more useful power than being able to make ships sink. Super-Intelligence or something like that would be nice. In that moment something crossed my mind: Futons. I just had to hope that we didn't have any futons or my plan was ruined. But for anything to get ruined I had to take some action first and that wasn't easy. Bed... bed... how could I sabotage a bed without anyone noticing... Why was it that when I necessarily needed an idea nothing would come to my mind? I could make the funniest comments without thinking for longer than a second, but now, like that... Maybe I should forget this. Yeah, screw this plan! …. screw? Screw! I could just pull out all of the screws and hide them under the bed. It'd look like they came out by themselves. The bed wasn't really broken, but putting it back together would take too long and so Nazrin would be without a bed.

Perfect, that idea was so reckless and stupid... it had to work! Now I just had to seek the perfect opportunity, the sooner the better. Nazrin and Shou had to be away from the temple for sure, it would be even better if Hijiri and Ichirin would come along to wherever. But that might be too much to ask for. Just in that same moment a knock on my door broke my train of thought, I had to make sure to sound depressed so no one would think I'd be plotting something. "Uh... yes?" I said quietly, awaiting a response. "Hey, Captain. Even though no one here is on very good terms with you right now, we wanted to leave to go buy some stuff and since you said we'd need some stuff for the ship it would be best if you tag along, there's that kappa. She makes all sorts of stuff and maybe has just what you're looking for." Hijiri told me, a hint of regret in her voice. She probably felt like she had been too harsh with her tone of voice before, ah, she was too nice. But anyway, this would be the perfect opportunity, yet, if I told them no and afterward Nazrin's bed suddenly crashes it would be very suspicious. I had to find some way to make them believe I was there and I already had an idea. "Alright, sure. Are you still mad at me?" "No... I don't have a reason to be mad, it's not my fight after all, but Nazrin and Shou are a different story. Shou started to doubt their relationship again after Nazrin told her... you can imagine how mad Nazrin is now." What? I caused trouble _already_? "Really...? Oh... well, alright. Thanks for warning me." I heard Hijiri leave.

Okay, time to get my alibi. Nue. She would help me if I paid her back for sure. But that meant that I had to leave my room. I sighed and stood up before slightly opening the door and peeking out. No one was there, perfect. Nue might just be hanging out with Kogasa outside again, I just had to find them. I sneaked to the front door, put on my shoes and opened the door when... "BERO BERO BA!" ...a karakasa hung upside down in front of me. I gasped a little. She then got down. "How often do I have to tell you, no bero bero ba! Use something else!" There she was, Nue, sitting on an ufo. "But I have to say you _did _get a little bit better. We're done for today." Kogasa grinned satisfied and left happily. I watched her leave before I closed the door behind me. "Scaring lessons?" I asked. Of course someone had told me about the lessons, but I had forgotten already. "Yes. That kid is no good at all, BUT I see some potential... so what is it you want?" I came closer to her. "Who said I wanted anything?" I asked. She looked at me. "Oh, please, you never come to me to just chat or anything or did that change now that the others dislike you?" She smirked, that was fun to her? Meh. Guess she liked to joke with people just as much as I did, just that her type of humor was darker. "Heh. No. Actually, I _do _have a favor to ask you." She looked at me curiously. "I have some sort of plan, something I have to pull off while the temple is mostly empty and the perfect opportunity is just ahead with everyone leaving to shop. I need you to give me an alibi." "So in short you want me to run around looking like you to everyone else?" She laughed a little. "And why exactly would I do that? Not that I don't like you or anything, but still... what's in for me?" I knew that this question would come, I had seen it coming miles away. "Well, what do you want?" She thought for a little while before answering. "I want to meddle in things that aren't any of my business, as well!" She then said.

"What, you … want to help me?" "Don't say it like that. I just want to have fun with this, too. I love getting into things that aren't any of my business. Also I want to decide on what to do with plans and all!" She landed in front of me. I grinned. Seems like today was a good day after all. "You got yourself a deal." "Alright then today..." She took my hat of my head for some unknown reason. "I shall run around as..." she placed it on her head. "Murasa Minamitsu!" She made a weird pose and I would've given anything for a camera in that moment. She stayed like that for a few seconds. "...can I have my hat back...?" I whined. "Sure." she placed it back on my head.

"Murasa, where are you? Are you ready to go?" A voice from inside called. It was Hijiri. "Yes!" I yelled back. "Just try to be a little like me while being with them, okay?" I asked Nue beside me. "Hm, maybe if I feel like it. Anyway, so there won't be two Murasa's from their point of view, I will make you look like me to them, so you better do a good job for the short time they see you." She kind of threatened me, but I didn't take it too serious. "Alright, alright, geez." Then Hijiri and the others came out, also Nazrin and Shou. Nazrin gave Nue a glare and I felt bad because it was meant to me not her. Hijiri look at Nue with a strong glance, apparently trying to tell her not to mess around, then she looked at me. "You sure you don't want to come along, Nue?" I stayed silent, waiting for Nue to reply, but she just rammed her elbow into my side, making me realize the situation I was in. "Ow! No, not really. I got... stuff to do." I could see the real Nue's unsatisfied face from the corner of my eye. "Bye, then, Nue-senpai!" Kogasa waved excitedly and the group left, taking a fake me with them. I just hoped everything would go according to plan.

But I didn't have the time to worry about that. They would probably stay out for some time, but in case they had any reason to come back earlier I didn't want them to catch me removing all the screws from Nazrin's bed. But then something hit me like a ton of bricks. They would- of course- suspect Nue to be the culprit and that wasn't good either, first of all it would be mean to her. And second of all if I thought egoistically about myself it was also bad because both of us would be disliked and it was more useful to have someone not _that _suspicious to the others on your side. So I would need to get her an alibi as well. Damn. All of this was even harder than I had expected. I should take the screws out first and then see if I can find Nue an alibi. But to remove the screws I would need a tool... A screwdriver would probably be the best idea. There should still be one in my room. I kept a lot of tools there, I didn't really know why, though. I made my way to my room and searched for the desired tool of mine. It didn't take long and I found it, right afterward I quickly sneaked into Nazrin's room. I've never been inside of it before. It was just a simple room, nothing special was inside. Except for a photo of Shou in a frame on the small table beside Nazrin's bed. I was better going to get to work right away. I knelt down and started with the first screw, which I removed completely and then I continued with the next one... In the end I had taken out most of them and left some inside, but only lose.

This thing would crash for sure. Nazrin wasn't really heavy, at least I didn't think so, I had never tried lifting her so I couldn't know for sure, but still this thing would be useless if just a duck sat on top of it. Then I wondered. Even if the bed was useless, there was still the mattress one could use to sleep on. Well, I guessed I could find a way to ruin it after Nazrin discovered the broken bed. Just having someone else spill some drink onto it would be enough. I would just wait and see. So at that point I had actually already finished the job, but just going to wait for the others to return would be a huge waste of time, I could maybe explore Nazrin's room a little more. Maybe I would find out about a secret or something like that that I could use for my planning. I was really crossing the line at that point, but I didn't care, I opened the drawer of the small table next to her bed and reached inside. I hoped to find a great treasure under all the tissues, photos, notes and more. But I was disappointed when I found nothing special. Just a little notebook that probably wasn't even worth taking a look inside. I put everything back the way it was and closed the drawer. I looked around. If I opened anything else I might make a real mess out of this room, I had no idea what was where after all. So I decided to check out Shou's room as well.

I went to her room and found out that the door was locked, which was strange. I remembered seeing it open a little bit before I went out to talk to Nue. I guessed she had locked it so I wouldn't come in. Whatever, it wasn't important to enter her room, anyway, at least not right now and if I needed to do so later I still could, so I sneaked away from her room. Even though no one was home I still felt like someone could hear me all the time, so I would continue to stay quiet. I thought about how to get Nue an alibi. I had to find one now for sure. I had taken the screws out already and putting all of them back would be impossible since I already forgot which screw belonged where. And it was important because all of them had different lengths.

I had to find an alibi as soon as possible and while thinking of how to get a good one for my ally, I wondered how Nue was doing. She was probably just fine, she could handle such things well and this wasn't the first time that she pretended to be somebody else. So I forgot about it for a moment and thought about how to make sure no one would suspect Nue. Maybe I could just leave the temple and wait for the others to return and then return myself looking like my ally? Yes, that would probably be enough to make the others believe that the thing with the bed wasn't anyone's doing. With that thought I left the temple and went to some sort of hideout nearby so I could see if they arrived. And so I waited and waited. Hour after hour passed and there was still no sign of them. As it became late evening I actually started to worry. They had been out for a very long time now. It wasn't like they needed anyone to protect them and I knew that those trips could take very long, but this didn't seem right, not at all. And so I continued to wait as I started to nod off.

I was woken up some time later, I hadn't slept for long, though. I was woken up by laughter and chatting, I looked at the front door of the Myouren temple and saw that my allies had finally returned and were now going inside. My ears caught Kogasa's words about being sad that her Nue-senpai didn't come along. That actual Nue-senpai was right behind the others. I couldn't really tell from my point of view, but she looked messed up, like someone beat her or something. I felt bad once more. I could see her looking into my direction. I wasn't sure about what kind of gaze she sent me, but it was for sure no happy one. Apparently she understood why I was hiding there, gave me a small nod and went inside, closing the front door. This was it, this was my time to enter the temple and make sure everyone believed that Nue hasn't been there before. But what would be a very Nue-like entrance? She wouldn't just knock and enter like a normal person, she'd do it differently.

_CRASH!_

Was the sound the glass made as I jumped through the window, I figured this was the best way to enter Nue-like. It kind of hurt to do this. Even though I was a ship ghost, because of Hijiri I got a normal body and I felt how some of the glass cut into my flesh. Maybe I could have done it differently. Everyone started at me. I just hoped Nue had the truth under her control right now. She stood behind the others looking at me, giving me a what-the-fuck?-face. "Nue, what the _hell _are you doing?" Hijiri asked, obviously trying to control her anger. Yes, I could have done this differently, well now it was too late to change and I would obviously have to go with it. "I just thought I'd give my student another lesson in surprising by surprising someone myself." I looked at Kogasa and she stared at me with big sparkling eyes. "Awesome..." I heard her whisper. Ichirin shook her head. "You are really strange today. Just like someone else." She glanced at Nue, who pretended to be ashamed of herself. Of course she wasn't. "Well, anyway, someone needs to get us a new window, we can't just stay with... well... nothing." I felt like I should pay it. Naturally. "I'll pay it!" I said. "That would be best, Nue. Also clean up this mess, please." Nue? Oh, damn! The real Nue looked like she was going to kill me within the next hour.

Hijiri and the others left, leaving only Nue and me. A dangerous situation. The furious girl walked right towards me, grabbed me by my collar and dragged me harshly into my own room. She closed the door. "What on earth is wrong with you?" She yelled. "Quiet! Everyone can probably hear you." I pointed out. "Besides, I thought you wouldn't enter normally..." I looked away, not really sure how to find a good excuse for what I had done at the moment before. "Well, no, but I don't come jumping through the window either." She kept her voice calm, but it was still furious, honestly I was a little scared. "Calm down." I told her. "I will give you the money for the window of course. I'm sorry, alright? I just _tried _to be like you." "It was obviously a huge failure. And that wasn't even the worst part of today." I was confused. "It wasn't?" I asked her, wondering about what might have been worse, I embarrassed her, after all. "While being out with the others Nazrin kept kicking me or dumping stuff all over me all the time. Have you any idea how hard it is to focus on hiding your real form if someone bothers or hurts you all the time? I was really close to losing it." I didn't know what to do. She seemed to have calmed down a little bit already. "Thank you." "Huh?" "Thank you for doing this for me today. I know it wasn't easy and believe me I feel bad for you. But this is important to me, really important. I'll explain you why some other time, but for now everything went just as planned." Nue crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Fine. You're welcome. Maybe we should get back to the others before they suspect anything. I'm just going to get changed and wash my face so I'm not the one who looks beaten up by Nazrin. Instead you should get filthy." "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa-" "Yes. If you don't want it to be as care so everyone thinks you were the one out with them, then take it as punishment for ruining my reputation like that. Oh and wipe that blood away." And then she left. Should I roll around in dirt or what? I sighed but decided to do what Nue told me to. I felt like I owed her something. So I made my way to the bathroom, taking my towel and wiping away the blood. It was mostly on my face an arms. Afterward I decided to do what I've been told and get filthy. It wasn't a very nice thing to do but for the sake of my plan I would do anything. It took quiet a while until I looked as messed up as Nue had before. I headed to the living room.

_CRASH!_

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**Expected this? I hope not :D **

**Yep, if you couldn't figure it out (even though I think it was impossible not to have found out) this isn't Nazrin's POV :P**

**And once again to my loyal loyal (and apparently only) reader: **

**Anonymous Pyramid Head: A Love-soaked incident? Hmmmm maaaaybe. I would really like to know who you expected it to be. Nue and Murasa I'm guessing? Look deeply into Kogasa's dreamy eyes and faint from how adorable she looks like that ~ XD**

**R&R … or your mother... will actually be Nue! DUN DUN DUUUUUN!**


	4. Chapter 4: Peaceful rest

**The mouse, the tiger and the Palaquin Captain**

_Chapter 4: Peaceful rest_

Shou's face flushed even harder and she looked down. Was that a yes? I couldn't tell. "Well... I'm just saying you can... if you want to..." She started fiddling with the fabric of her sleeves nervously. I heard quiet whispering coming from the door and gave the others a glare. They didn't really need to see this, did they? I grabbed a book that I found on the table next to my bed and threw it towards the doorway, making the others leave quickly. I then looked at Shou. "You're saying I can, I know, but I want to know if you want that..." She didn't answer me. Why didn't she answer me? She knew she could say anything and I would neither laugh nor be mad or something like that. "Please, Shou, your silence doesn't make me any wiser." She looked back at me. "You see... we promised each other to spend some time alone every day and... today we hardly spent ten minutes alone... so I thought... you might at least stay for a while..."

It was all about that promise, of course, why didn't I think of that before? We _did_ spend almost the entire day with the others. "Oh, it's about that promise...? But um... why do you want me to sleep in your bed, not just your room?" "Because the mattress doesn't fit on the ground, we don't have any futons and I don't want you to just sleep on the floor." She explained to me. So she didn't actually want the bed thing, but just to spend time with me. I smiled at her and nodded. "Alright." I said blushing. I could tell this was going to be very weird and awkward, but if my sweet Shou wanted something I would do anything to make her happy. "Awwww!" I heard from outside, apparently the others didn't quit witnessing our conversation. "Really?" Shou said happily. She smiled brightly as I nodded, holding my arms out to receive a hug from her, which I did.

I yawned noisily. Shou then looked at me and smiled. "You're tired, aren't you? I'll get the bed ready immediately." She smiled. I blushed a little and nodded. It was going to happen, I was going to share a bed with her, with my beautiful Shou. I didn't know how to feel at that moment. Sure I was happy that we'd spend some time together, but like this it would be very awkward and it was still too soon for my taste. I know that I said yes, but in all truth it was just to make Shou happy. As I said before I'd do anything to make her happy. Anything. "Alright." I finally answered. "Thank you very much for letting me stay there." I stood up, followed by Shou, who took the key from behind the photo, where I had put it before. I walked towards her room, glancing at the others, who were hiding outside mine, giving me different expressions. Hijiri smiled happily and it was really starting to creep me out. Ichirin looked like she was wishing me luck and I didn't even want to know what for. Murasa grinned as if she was saying. "Success!" Kogasa looked at me confused and Nue wasn't there.

I ignored them and went to Shou's room. I was about to open the door when someone grabbed my wrist, holding me back. I looked up and saw that it was my girlfriend. "Um... my room is … really messy! Please let me clean it up first!" She let my wrist go, giving me a begging look. "Of course." I answered briefly, stepping away from the door. She unlocked the door and opened it, went inside the room and closed the door before I could see anything behind it. I really wondered what was wrong with her. She had been acting strange all day. I considered asking her about it but decided not to unless there was the perfect moment. These kinds of questions should not be asked out of the blue and I knew it. While waiting I heard a lot of noise coming out of the room in front of me. I would've loved to know what was going on in there. But I didn't and so I continued to wait and wait... this was getting ridiculous. Did she also change into her pajamas? I looked down at the clothing I was wearing at that time. Changing wasn't that much of a bad idea and it looked like she was going to take a while to finish whatever she was doing in there.

So I left to my room and got into my pajamas. I couldn't stop looking at my broken bed, trying to find out how the heck it broke like that. Instead of wondering about that, I should rather wrap my mind around the event that was ahead of me. I went back to Shou's room and knocked at the door. "Hey, are you done in there any time soon?" I asked. As response the door opened. "Yes! I'm done! Sorry it took so long, but it was a real mess in here! Oh, you changed as well?" She said looking at me in my pajamas. I just nodded. "Well then, make yourself comfortable in the bed already while I go brush my teeth. You've brushed yours, already, correct?" I just made another nod. "Okay then. You get comfortable." She told me and left to the bathroom. She seemed very enthusiastic about sharing a bed with me. I told myself that it was all because of the promise, not more.

I walked into her room and looked around like this was the first time I saw it. Of course it wasn't, but I tried to find out that way if she really just cleaned up a mess in there, because I remembered that the room seemed normal earlier that day. I shook my head, pushing that thought out. I decided that I didn't have enough trust in Shou. She said she cleaned up a mess, so that's what she did. Nothing more. Nothing else. Confident about my new trust I glanced at the bed and sighed a little. I didn't know if I should just lie down. She had told me to get comfortable in there, so that's what I should do, right? But why did it feel so strange? Why would I rather go hiding like a coward instead of spending the night with Shou? I loved her. I knew I did. So this shouldn't be hard. I climbed into the bed and realized that I neither had my own pillow, nor my bedspread. I was about to stand up again, but Shou entered the room, smiling at me, closing the door. "Uhm... Master, I forgot my bedspread and pillow, may I-?" "You did it again." She sighed while entering the bed as well, looking at me with a harsh gaze. "... what?..." I asked, wondering, had I forgotten to turn off the lights outside or something?

"You called me 'master', even though I thought you'd use my name permanently now." She looked away, but I could tell that she was sad and disappointed. I cursed myself for my stupidity. "I'm sorry, Shou... It's not like I don't want to call you by your first name, it's just still very hard for me..." I explained, rubbing her back, this seemed to really get to her. "Still? But, Nazu-chan, it's been months since we started to have this kind of relationship!" Why did I have to make that mistake in exactly that moment? Right now when everything was going smoothly and I just had gotten over the fact that I crawled into Shou's bed. I didn't know what to say anymore, she was right it had been months, but what was I supposed to do? "Shou, please, don't be sad or mad... I want to call you by your name, really and I'm doing my best to do so! I promise I'll always call you by your name from now on, okay?" She looked at me. "You promise?" She asked me, making sure she had understood. "Yes, I promise." She smiled at me, hugged me and lay down in the bed, covering herself with her bedspread.

"Um, Shou, as I was saying, I don't have my bedspread or pillow here, if I could just-" "Oh, of course, how stupid of me!" She said and giggled. Then she started to tuck me in her bedspread as well, causing my cheeks to redden. She also made enough space for my head on her pillow. "There you go." She smiled brightly, blushing a little bit. "Actually, this wasn't exactly what-" "Warm and cuddly!" She exclaimed, it was like she wasn't even listening to me or ignoring my very words. I lay my head on her pillow, knowing that trying to get my own stuff was no use. "Thank you." I said, she just smiled and turned off the light. She was right, this _was_ warm and cuddly. I was so close to her body, I felt her warmth and I could hear her quiet breath. This moment was great. Not that I had much space or anything, but I didn't need it in that moment, all I needed was the warmth and love of Shou to be happy. The lights outside of the room turned off as well, as everyone went to rest. I counted the sounds of closing doors until I was sure everyone was in their own room.

Shou was apparently asleep already, her breath seemed very calm and she wasn't saying anything or moving. I held that thought until I noticed two golden eyes staring at me from the darkness. This reminded me so much of a particular situation some time in the past. I started to whisper to her. "Shou, you're still awake? I thought you were asleep." She whispered back. "Why did you think that? I couldn't just fall asleep when I have you in my bed the first time. No, wait... the second time." She giggled as she obviously remembered the same event as me, causing me to blush. "How did you end up here that time, actually?" she asked, chuckling warmly. "Geez. That you have to remember this of all things!" I cursed quietly. "You pulled me in, remember?" She shook her head. My eyes started to get used to the darkness as I could recognize more of her face now. "I don't remember that, sorry." There was silence for a moment as I felt her grab my hand, holding it tightly. "What was that thing today, actually?" I suddenly broke the soft silence. "Huh? What are you talking about? There were many things today." She wondered as if about to start counting all the special or not so special things that happened that day. "I mean... well, when we were out in the human village and I hugged you... you... started purring. Is it that I've just never noticed this before or did you do it for the first time?" I asked her while gently stroking her hand with my thumb.

"Oh, you actually heard that?" There was embarrassment in her voice. "Yes, it was really cute." I said, feeling more blood rising to my cheeks. Apparently that made Shou's embarrassment even bigger as she started to stutter. "y-You think s-so? Well... i-it was nothing..." Of course it wasn't nothing. "Alright if you say so." But I didn't want to force her to say anything she didn't want to say. In that moment, she pulled me closer to her, making my head rest on her chest, I didn't know for sure, but I think my head was as red as a tomato again. I heard her heart beat and closed my eyes. It was the best melody I've ever heard. Shou seemed to notice how I heard that sound. "It's beating just for you, Nazrin." I looked at her, seeing a very sweet and calming smile. She leaned forward and brushed her lips against mines, her eyes closing in enjoyment and her arms wrapping themselves around my body, keeping me close to her, giving me a feeling of tenderness and protection. I kissed her back lovingly, my eyes closing as well. How could I just love her this much? I wondered jokingly as we parted, staring into each other's eyes.

"Can I ask you something else?" I wrecked the sweet moment. "Sure, what is it?" She asked, giving me a curious look. "You didn't let my hand go after we kissed. Not for one moment. It's not like I didn't like it or anything, but why exactly did you do so? I mean, after we agreed not to act like a couple in public." I asked her. "Well, you were the one starting it, weren't you? I just thought... that … um... it was good? Yes, right, I thought that it was nice holding hands like that!" Have I mentioned that Shou was a terrible liar? "Shou, please tell me the truth, I can read in your eyes that what you just told me is not really it. You can tell me whatever it is. I won't be mad." She seemed shocked. "You really think I'd lie to you? I'm hurt, Nazrin. I thought you'd trust me." "O-of course I do! Forget what I just said! It was... stupid, nothing more." I saw her nodding and then I looked away from her. That was it. No more questions. I would only hurt her more if I continued like that. I went back to resting my head on her chest. She ran her fingers through my hair and I closed my eyes. I started to fall asleep as her heartbeat was by bedtime song, and the movement of her chest as she breathed rocked me into slumber.

I had a very peaceful rest. In the dreams I had that night was Shou's heart beat all the time. It didn't bother me, no, actually I loved hearing it all the time. After what only seemed like a few minutes I regained consciousness, my tired eyes opened slowly. At first everything I saw was just a blur, but slowly I was able to recognize the room and the different things within it. I looked at the space beside me and saw that Shou was still asleep, I would give my best not to wake her up. This night hadn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be. And it wasn't as awkward waking up next to her as I thought it was going to be. A quiet squeaking noise pulled me out of my train of thought. I noticed my companion, sitting on my leg, greeting me. I smiled and ran a finger over the mouse's head. "Good morning to you ,too." I whispered, making sure not to wake up Shou. I didn't even know where I left off my companion the other day and I didn't feel to good about it. Someone would get an extra amount of cheese as an apology.

"Naz! Shou! Breakfast is ready!" A familiar voice outside called. I cursed Hijiri for yelling, because I saw how Shou opened her eyes and immediately closed them again. I could tell that she has already been annoyed. "Go, get yourself some food." I told my companion, who hopped off my leg and ran off immediately. I would just get Shou out of her bed, so we could eat together. "Shou, are you awake?" I asked quietly and sweetly. I received a grumble as an answer. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close to me, causing her eyes to shoot open immediately. "Don't you wanna get breakfast together?" I asked while making a fake pout. "Nazrin..." She started seriously. I really wondered what she was going to say. Was she going to be mad at me for waking her up, even though Hijiri did it? "You're so cute!" She screamed, before she fell all over me. That was definitely _not _what I had expected, even though I should be used to her sudden and strange actions by now. "But you're right, let's go get breakfast!" She said, letting me go and standing up. I chuckled at her strange behavior and stood up as well. "Let me just get dressed in my room, I'll wait for you afterward." I told her, opening the door of her room. "Who says that I don't have to be the one waiting?" She asked confused. "I just know." I said, smiled at her and left, leaving her behind in confusion.

I was faster than her, I have always been faster than her. Not only because she was a complete klutz and would take forever with her clothing, but because she had a lot more and more difficult things to get into. As a disciple of Bishamonten, she shouldn't run around looking like a mess, even though as I mentioned, she didn't really care. I got into my room and closed the door behind me. It felt good to have some space for one's self after that kind of night, still, it had been great. I opened my wardrobe and picked out some of my usual clothing. Honestly, I wondered why I didn't have any more interesting things. While getting dressed I left the wardrobe open and saw my red kimono hanging in there. I smiled, remembering that one fateful celebration I had worn it to. "Nazrin, you ready?" A voice outside my room asked. It was Shou's. I was confused how she could be done already, closed my wardrobe and opened my door, putting my capelet around my shoulders. The sight I was met with was sort of amusing. There was Shou in all of her clothes, but it didn't take a genius to see that she had hurried. Nothing was in place or order. "Um, Shou, did you hurry while getting dressed?" I asked her politely, fighting laughter that was desperately trying to get out.

"No, what are you talking about? I didn't hurry at all, I took my time." I gave her a really special gaze, which got her to spill the beans. "You said you'd have to wait for me and I just wanted to prove you wrong." She pouted a little, I chuckled. "You don't have to prove me wrong, I know that you need your time, now why don't you go and get yourself organized?" I suggested. "No, I think I look fine and I want to go eat now. I'm starving." She told me, starting to walk. I followed her. If that was what she thought and wanted then that was the way it was going to be. "Good morning." I said as I entered the room, the others greeted me and Shou back. She really was an eye catcher. Everyone looked at her, obviously trying to fight back comments and laughter. They actually did good on not saying anything about her appearance. "How did you sleep?" Ichirin asked. I wasn't sure if she was referring to us sharing a bed or not. "I slept good, thanks." I knelt down, next to Shou. "Itadakimasu." Both of us said at the same time and started to eat. I saw my companion eating as well.

"Anyway, as I was saying." Hijiri probably had been talking and we interrupted. "We still need to pay the rest of the food at that eel cart, I promised I'd do it today, does anyone wanna come along? "Actually I wanted to do some training with Unzan right after breakfast, I didn't do that in quite some time." Ichirin explained before continuing to eat. "Nue-senpai told me to practice danmaku with her today." Kogasa said and Nue nodded. "Even though you're an extra-stage midboss, your also just a stage two boss, we need to change that." Kogasa pouted. "I won't come along, either, I wanted to take a bath after breakfast." I explained. "And I have stuff to do." Shou said, sounding important and serious. Whatever that stuff was, it seemed to really matter to her. Hijiri looked at Murasa, who was the only one with no explanation for not going. "There still seem to be some technical problems with the ship. I really want to fix it while the weather is good."

Hijiri nodded and sighed. "I'll go alone then, I guess." She said. After we were all done eating I made my way to the bathroom. I turned on the water and checked for towels. I saw that there still were plenty so I didn't have to get any others. Then I went to get myself some new clothing for after the bath, I didn't need a new dress or capelet, but underwear would be nice. I couldn't wait for a nice relaxing bath and got even more happy about it when I reentered the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I got undressed and put my clothing aside, right before climbing into the bathtub. I let out a relaxing. "aaaaah~" while entering the warm water. I looked around, searching for the soap and found out that there was none. I cursed and reached out for a towel, right before gasping.

* * *

Wow, this took a while. Sorry for the huge delay, I just couldn't get my lazy ass into writing this. Anyway, yep. That's what happened so far. Not much of an interesting chapter I guess.

To **Anonymous Pyramid Head**: Hehe, glad that you didn't expect it and thank you for calling me a genius, I'm used to people calling me the opposite ^^;

R&R or... I dunno.


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